Golf is enjoyed by a wide variety of players—players of different genders and dramatically different ages and/or skill levels. Golf is somewhat unique in the sporting world in that such diverse collections of players can play together in golf events, even in direct competition with one another (e.g., using handicapped scoring, different tee boxes, in team formats, etc.), and still enjoy the golf outing or competition. These factors, together with the increased availability of golf programming on television (e.g., golf tournaments, golf news, golf history, and/or other golf programming) and the rise of well known golf superstars, at least in part, have increased golf's popularity in recent years, both in the United States and across the world.
Golfers at all skill levels seek to improve their performance, lower their golf scores, and reach that next performance “level”. One way for a golfer to improve their performance is to understand the layout of golf course itself and also understand their own performance “level” and skills and how to apply them to the golf course.
For example, in terms of understanding the golf course itself, a golfer may not be able to judge distances on the course between their position and a particular point, such as a hazard or the hole. As a result, the golfer might misjudge such distance between their position and the hazard or hole and select a golf club that would prevent the golfer from accurately striking the golf ball to the desired position. Therefore, it would be beneficial for the golfer to be able to know precisely where they are on the golf course and also how far they are from the hole or hazard in order to select the correct golf club with which to strike the golf ball. Hence, by understanding the golf course's layout, the golfer will improve their play on the golf course.
Similarly, in terms of a golfer understanding their own performance “level” and skills, a golfer may not have the experience to realize or judge their tendencies on the course, such as mistakes the golfer usually makes while on the course. For example, a golfer may not realize if they have a tendency to “slice” their drives from the tee box, “shank” their approach shots, “hook” their chip shots or leave putts too short. As a result, the golfer will not necessarily focus on improving that aspect of their “game”. Golfers also tend to overestimate (or otherwise mis-estimate) the distances that they typically hit each club. Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide the golfer with a full and comprehensive reflection of the golfer's round, including the position of all the golf shots taken throughout the round, in order to allow the golfer to better understand his tendencies, mistakes, etc. and focus on correcting those aspects of their “game” during practice off the course. However, it is noted that the traditional method of golfing, including manual scoring, may not be adequate in providing that full and comprehensive reflection of the golfer's round discussed above and thereby, may not be substantially beneficial in helping the golfer realize their tendencies, mistakes, etc. In other words, while the golfer's manually created scorecard for a particular round may reflect how many shots were taken, it would not reflect information such as where on the actual golf course those shots were taken, if a golfer “sliced”, “hooked” or otherwise mis-hit a shot, and/or the club used and the distances that the golfer hit the club for each shot. Instead, when reviewing a scorecard after the round, a golfer would have to rely solely on their memory to determine such information. Remembering all the different shots from a particular round can be difficult even if the round was played recently and especially if the round was not played recently. However, as described above, it is exactly such information about the position of the strokes or the mis-hits that can be a useful tool in helping the golfer improve. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide such information to the golfer so that they will better understand their own skills or “game” and thereby improve.
Further, an additional drawback to this traditional method of manual scoring is that it may be tedious and prone to error. For example, a golfer, especially one new to the game, may simply forget to record particular shots during the course of play. Before the golfer has a chance to record the score, they may forget a short chip stroke or putt they took during play. This can lead to errors in scoring. Alternatively, even if the golfer does remember to record all the strokes taken during a round, they would have to take time during play on the course to manually calculate and record this information. This can slow down the pace of play and take away from the game itself. For example, if the golfer did not have to spend time calculating and recording his score, the golfer could focus on and prepare for the upcoming golf stroke or upcoming hole. Therefore, it would be beneficial to eliminate the need for manually calculating and recording a score, so that the golfer can concentrate on other aspects of the game.
Therefore, as described above, analyzing and utilizing information from a round of golf both while on and off the course, is one way for a golfer to improve their own golf “game.” While the industry has witnessed dramatic changes and improvements to golf equipment in recent years, there is room in the art for further advances in golf technology. Hence, it would be desirable to be able to automatically track a golfer's position, coordinate the golfer's golf strokes with the golfer's position and record such information. Further, it would be desirable to be able to display the tracked, coordinated and recorded information to the golfer.